Amanda Sapio
For Jake Fuzak, football was a major focus during his time as an undergraduate at University of Buffalo. His dedication and hard work led to becoming a top-ranked offensive lineman, a Pro Football Focus (PFF) All-American, and captain of the football team.
Fuzak was particularly drawn to anime, and he ultimately decided to leave his sports career behind to attend Chapman and pursue his true passion of becoming a film director. He loved that anime provided a unique sense of “wonder” often missing in Western entertainment, and a way for audiences to see their struggles overcome by relatable characters.
Pursuing Chapman’s film production program connected him with Adi Shankar, renowned film and television producer behind the hit anime series “Castlevania” and “Devil May Cry.”
“Katie Botinelli and Joe Rosenberg in the career office helped me land an internship in Lorenzo di Bonaventura’s office at Paramount,” Fuzak shared. “While working in his office, I had the opportunity to connect with Adi Shankar, who brought me on as an assistant.”
Working as an assistant to Adi Shankar has also been an invaluable experience for Fuzak. “It’s been incredible to be a fly on the wall for Adi,” Fuzak expressed. “Being on calls with him and meeting the people he works with has been so enlightening.”
Since starting the position, Fuzak has worked with Shankar anime series “Devil May Cry.”
“Earlier today, I had a few meetings with Johnny Yong Bosch, the voice actor who plays Dante in ‘Devil May Cry’,” Fuzak said. “Langdon voiced so many of my favorite anime characters—it’s been a dream to work with him.”
The rigorous training in live-action storytelling provided a critical foundation Fuzak can now apply to anime.
“All of the classes I took at Chapman involved working with actors and story crafting,” he explained. “That’s my hidden blade, and that has given me a unique perspective on how to structure a story.”
Fuzak, who graduated in May, reflected on the role Chapman played in his journey.
“I was lucky to get a job in the industry I want to be in and learn from people at Chapman who can further my animation career.”
His next step involves delving deeper into the technical aspects of anime and live action, and he plans to take animation classes.
“Live action requires a lot of discipline,” Fuzak said. “If you can take that discipline and apply it to anime but still push boundaries when it comes to the expressionism and surrealism that anime has—that’s a superpower.”
